Plan to ban under-21 drink sales goes on despite defeat

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Ban will reappear in Justice and Licensing Bill regardless of overwhelming rejection by MSPs

SNP ministers at Holyrood appear determined to press ahead with their widely criticised plan to ban under-21s in Scotland from buying alcohol in off-licences and supermarkets despite a crushing parliamentary defeat on the proposal last night.

Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative MSPs joined forces to back a Tory motion calling on the Scottish government to scrap the plan.

Although the vote, in which the ban was defeated by 72 votes to 47, is not binding on ministers because it was not on a piece of legislation, it now appears highly unlikely that it can ever become a reality.